


The Things Done In The Dark

by daxcat79



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Drama, Episode Related, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-13
Updated: 2013-12-13
Packaged: 2018-01-04 13:11:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1081411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daxcat79/pseuds/daxcat79
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the dark they find each other, but they do more harm than good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Things Done In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place three months after “The Angels Take Manhattan” for River and immediately after “The Waters of Mars” for the Tenth Doctor.

He could rewrite fixed points. He could change everything. Time was ticking, catching up with him… but he wouldn’t be going down without a fight. He wasn’t ready. He might never be ready. Energy equivalent to humanity’s adrenaline surged through him. There was so much left to see, but the knocking… it echoed in his mind like a violent threat. With a scream he flipped the switch. The destination wasn’t important. The Tardis lurched forward and back, resisting, guiding, and he wouldn’t stop pushing.

The Doctor wasn’t prepared for the landing, rougher than usual. The harsh light stung his eyes. He found himself wondering as he lay there. Was this part of the running? One misstep and it was surely leading to a fall. His fall....

“Doctor! What have you done?!”

That voice, he knew that voice. She ran with him once in the Library. Wild curls, far too clever, and a smooth voice that knew his name. His eyes snapped open. “River,” he whispered.

River crouched over him, one hand stroking his thigh while the other touched his cheek. “What’s happened? Blimey… new face… I’ve never seen-“

He moved to sit up, sliding away from her in the shock. His future, spoilers… everything he’d yet to understand. He couldn’t be here… could he? Was this where it started? “What? What?! _What?!_ No… how can you be here?”

River licked her lips, hands raised as if in an effort to look non-threatening. “Then you know me?”

“Of course I know you… Professor River Song.”

She nodded, smiling with such relief. “Where are we for you?”

His hearts skipped a beat, aching with the foreknowledge he couldn’t reveal. “Spoilers,” he whispered with hesitation.

Her eyes widened just a centimeter, but she nodded just the same. “Early then, and you don’t know who I am. Doctor, something’s wrong. I can see it. You came to me. Why?”

“The Tardis… it brought me here. Where am I?”

“My home,” she answered with the faintest smile. “It’s rare for you to come here this early in your timeline. Last we saw each other you… well, you were older. Sometimes the universe is so big, and we’re given tiny miracles… linear miracles. It’s all I have left, I suppose, when my time runs out.”

He can see the way her eyes shine with tears, the kind of agony that could stop time itself. “You said I was young. I’m starting to think you’re right.”

“Where are you, Doctor? What have you done?” River moved to touch his face, staring back at him with such worry and fear. “Oh… oh you idiot! How bad?”

“Do you know anything… about the waters of Mars?” he asked her, feeling his chest tighten like a vice. That was the problem with fighting fixed points… it burned in his mind with insanity.

In his future he must have told her about what happened. Her eyebrows rose, and her eyes closed for a brief moment. “And the Tardis brought you here? She knew you would need me.” River’s head dropped and she shook her head. “You almost crashed into my home, you stubborn fool.”

She moved to help him up, but he grasped her arm and pulled. Her face mere inches from his, and the tension was thick… so thick. She almost looked afraid. She knew his name, knew his secrets… made sense, he supposed. “They call me the Doctor, but not you. You know me by another name.”

“Doctor, you’re talking rubbish-”

He shook his head, too tired for games and he felt so very old. “Sometimes I run to something, River; but most of the time… most of the time it feels like I’m running away from something… everything.”

“Oh good, you really are a cheery one with this face,” she muttered with a sigh. She slid to his side to sit beside him on the floor of the Tardis. “I think I like you better when you forget.”

“Forget what?”

Her smile was faint, and troubled. “Everything.”

“And would it be better to forget you, River Song?”

She wouldn’t look at him. Her eyes held in front of her. The Tardis humming like a lullaby. “Those who forget can be made to remember, Doctor… but that could never hurt as much as not knowing me at all.”

The last time they met he hurt her, though he hadn’t a clue how much until those words. He hurt her before she was important to him, but it didn’t ease the guilt. “I could fix it, you know, I really could.”

“At what price, Doctor?” River snapped. “You’re mad enough as it is.”

He watched her carefully. If his time was running out he’d drink in this moment like it’d be his last. He would make it last. The burden she held close seemed just as heavy as the one he struggled with. He wasn’t sure how long he could bare his alone. Perhaps this once he could be the one who forgets… not the one who regrets. Just once.

The Doctor forced her to look at him, and she didn’t resist. Those eyes, looking upon him without the ignorance he was used to. Not even Rose could have ever looked at him like that… and oh how he’d cared for her. River had seen everything and accepted it all. She’d absorbed his darkness like a sponge without burning up in the heat of his secrets. So he pushed her over the edge with a kiss.

*~*~*

“You have a wedding to get to.”

The Doctor tensed under the sheets, watching her slip away from his arms to collect her clothes from the floor. They’d just barely made it to his quarters fully clothed, though he was fairly certain his jacket and her jumper were in the hallway outside.

She paused and let out a tired sigh. “Not me, you idiot. Queen Elizabeth… I admit I’m a bit jealous.” River turned to look at him just as she slipped on her bra. “I’ve always wanted to bed a queen.”

Dear god, she sounded like Jack. The Doctor watched as her panties were next, black and lacy ones. “Virgin Queen,” he grumbled discouragingly.

River laughed. “Idle gossip!”

“Archeology,” he replied cheekily.

He’d never seen her smile so wide, walking back towards the bed. He couldn’t help looking away. The regret had already set in. He was messing with time, pushing his luck. It didn’t feel wrong, but it should have. “Doctor, you won’t forgive me for this, I should think. The look on your face after the crash makes sense now.”

It was hard to follow her sometimes. He wasn’t used to that. He felt so incredibly thick. “It wasn’t like you were the only one taking advantage… I kissed you.”

“First kiss… should have known. Rule one.”

“The Doctor lies.”

“Have to… spoilers, hmm? This might actually be the worst one yet. Utterly shameful!”

“I don’t even know who you are,” he admitted.

River leaned in close, and he sucked in a breath. “That’s what makes it so shameful,” she whispered seductively.

“Foreknowledge… it’s dangerous. I’ve done enough damage as it is.”

“Yes, you have. I’m so sorry, Doctor, but you won’t be seeing me again with that face. Your time is ending.” She knew. Of course she knew. The Doctor watched her heading towards the door, reaching for lost items of clothing on the way. His door opened for her, and she turned back one last time. “You couldn’t tell me where we are. Not even a word. I suppose that’s why the Tardis brought you to me. A good reminder that everything has it’s end. Goodbye sweetie.”

He couldn’t quite bare to watch her walk away just yet. She was his future, and more than anything he needed her now. She wasn’t a reminder of his end. She was a reminder that he had a future. River Song was just the beginning.

The Doctor rushed from the bed, unashamed of his nakedness as he went off after her. “River! River, wait!” He hadn’t taken her to Asgard… perhaps she’d enjoy a nice picnic.

**Two Months Later**

She was flying or floating, depending on the point of view, she supposed. It didn’t matter. The sound penetrated her very being with a promise. She reached for his hand, and he pulled her inside. “Do you _ever_ keep out of trouble?!” he groused as the door shut behind them and she got to her feet. Her stomach lurched from the fall, and she was barely keeping down breakfast.

“You’re one to talk!” Sometimes she forgot he was hard work young. She’d been traveling with him too long.

“You just HAD to break the law in front of a Judoon! So much for the stars of Zandor! Once in a lifetime event and we missed it because of you! Petty theft! What could possibly be so important that you couldn’t be bothered to pay for it?!”

River rolled her eyes, keeping her pack close. “It wasn’t theirs to begin with!”

“Why should that matter?”

So young. He couldn’t possibly understand. River looked away. “I shouldn’t have stayed so long. This was a mistake.”

The Doctor’s brow wrinkled in confusion. She wished she could explain, but she felt so very sick. There wasn’t any time. It was beginning to hurt, sting like the prick of a thousand needles pressing into her hearts. He was so scared of being alone, but she couldn’t bare him another second, not like this. “You’re leaving.” There it was, that look… kicked puppy.

She flashed him a brave smile. “There will be others, but I think this will be good for you… traveling on your own for a while.”

“I could go visit Queen Elizabeth,” he snapped.

“Tell the _Zygons_ I said, hello,” she replied coldly in return.

He didn’t understand, of course he wouldn’t. She walked towards him, and kissed his lips one last time. He pulled away quick. “River… what have you… oh noooo-”

She watched him sway, move his hand back and forth as the drug kicked in. Such a daft old man. “Goodbye, dear.”

River punched in the coordinates and sent her off, her dear Tardis. Who knew when she’d see the mad blue box again? Not soon, she supposed, but she would take her chances. She had no choice. The Doctor giggled helplessly and wobbled away while she pulled her stolen item from her pack. A relic from the Library… a reminder of what was waiting for her. She needed to go.

“Hey look, I’m finally ginger!”

River rolled her eyes.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about how Ten had to resist the urge to break down when talking to the Ood at the End of Time episodes, and it got me thinking that maybe it wasn't just what happened on Mars that affected him. What if something else was hanging over him?


End file.
